504 



The Edible Chaxtkreele (Edibee) 

 CaiitharcUus cibarius Fries 



Cantharcllus cibarius grows on the ground in woods from June to 

 September. It is widely distributed and often very abundant in mid- 

 summer of a rainy year. 



The cap is 5 to 10 cm. (2 to 4 inches) broad, fleshy, rather thick, 

 at first convex and witli the margin incurved, then flat, and finally 

 somewhat funnel-shaped. It is firm, with a smooth surface, but often 

 quite irregular, with its margin wavy, and sometimes more or less one- 

 sided, that is, with one side developed more than the other. The color 

 is rich egg-yellow. The flesh is white, peppery to the taste when raw. 

 and usually with a faint odor of apricots. 



The gills are thick but so narrow that they appear like swollen 

 veins. They are quite far apart, usually crooked, and fork or run into 

 each other irregularly and extend down the stem somewhat (decur- 

 rent). They are colored like the cap. The .spores are white or faintly 

 yellowish. 



The stem is short, firm and solid, smooth, often tapering down- 

 ward, sometimes curved, and colored like the cap but usually a shade 

 lighter. There is no ring and no volva. 



This plant is highlv prized everywhere as an edible species. The 

 pepperv taste of the fresh plants entirely disappears on cooking. 



There is anotlier plant, CratcrcUns cantliarcUus, which grows in 

 the same situations as the edilile chanterelle, often right along with it, 

 and which very closely resemloles it. The color, taste, and odor are 

 the same. The Craterellus is classified in an entirely different family, 

 however, because of the fact that it has no gills, the under side of the 

 cap being perfectlv smooth. But intermediate forms occur which are 

 very diflicult to classify, and there is some question whether the two 

 l)lants are not reallv the same. At. any rate l:)oth are equally good to 

 eat, so that no harm can come from mistaking the one for the other. 

 The photograph opposite this page shows both plants. The figure at 

 the right is CratcrcUns cautharcUus, the middle specimen is Cantharcl- 

 lus cibarius, while the two at the left are intermediate forms, which, 

 liowever, would be called, bv most collectors. CauiharcUns cibarius. 



Collected in Champaign, Jackson, and L^nion counties. 



